Aldea Pharmaceuticals Raised $1.3M in Funding

In February 2012, Aldea Pharmaceuticals, a Westport, CT-based company dedicated to improving patients’ health using a novel platform of enzyme activators as drugs, raised $1.3m in funding.

Backers included Correlation Ventures and Canaan Partners.

Led by CEO Timothy Shannon, the company is developing novel enzyme activators to enhance the removal of toxic aldehydes, including those associated with the common flushing response to alcohol in persons of East Asian descent.
These drugs, called Aldas (for Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Activators), enhance the removal of acetaldehyde and other toxic aldehydes that induce many oxidative stress associated diseases by impairing the function of proteins and inducing mutations in DNA.